How to hack a "computer problem call" scam?
by haphaeu from LinuxQuestions.org on (#59NRK)
You know the typical phone call with an strange country code, and as you pick up the phone a person claims that your computer has been hacked and offers help, and so on...
So, I just got one of these calls on the way to work and asked them to please call me back in the evening when I'm home. I think it'll be fun to mock the scammer a little.
Of course I'm not providing any access to my home computer. So instead I'm planning use a linux host to start a VM with a windows guest, then stablish contact with the scammer from this VM.
As a minimum, I thought it would be fun to waste this guys time with a pointless connection to an fresh installed VM with no personal information on it.
As for security, I think these scammer are really only prepared for the uninformed windows users providing direct access to their machine, but just to make sure, any information if they could gain access to the host machine from within the VM guest? Would it add an extra security layer to start a VM from inside another VM? In this case, would be better Linux Host->Linux guest->Win guest, or Linux Host->Windows Guest->Windows Guest.
And also, any idea on how to gain access to his computer and try to get hold of his identity during the call? I'm not sure what kind of systems they use and how to explore them. Possibly get his IP address and report to his ISP or VPN?
So, I just got one of these calls on the way to work and asked them to please call me back in the evening when I'm home. I think it'll be fun to mock the scammer a little.
Of course I'm not providing any access to my home computer. So instead I'm planning use a linux host to start a VM with a windows guest, then stablish contact with the scammer from this VM.
As a minimum, I thought it would be fun to waste this guys time with a pointless connection to an fresh installed VM with no personal information on it.
As for security, I think these scammer are really only prepared for the uninformed windows users providing direct access to their machine, but just to make sure, any information if they could gain access to the host machine from within the VM guest? Would it add an extra security layer to start a VM from inside another VM? In this case, would be better Linux Host->Linux guest->Win guest, or Linux Host->Windows Guest->Windows Guest.
And also, any idea on how to gain access to his computer and try to get hold of his identity during the call? I'm not sure what kind of systems they use and how to explore them. Possibly get his IP address and report to his ISP or VPN?